This Situation Just Got a LOT More Complicated...

This situation just got a lot more complicated as one NFL insider just contradicted another as it pertains to rumors swirling around a Vikings player that no one knows what to make of at this point. And these new offensive line details should give reprieve for some fans that are demanding immediate upgrades. We're going to break down all of that in this episode of Vikings Digest, but first, we are 60 subscribers away from hitting our goal of 5,200 subscribers, so if you're a part of the 89% of viewers who are not yet subscribed and you want to stay up to date on all things Vikings make sure to hit that subscribe button and the bell icon so you don't miss any of the episodes when they drop. With that let's hop right into the first topic which is the twist of Jennings proportions as Tom Pelissero was on KFAN 100.3 recently as he does every single Thursday and he talked about a lot of things as we covered in our last video about the trade deadline and as well as some rumors swirling around certain Vikings players and one of those players that was recently a subject of those rumors as per Ian Rapoport as well as Adam Schefter and other people reporting on it was Jawan Jennings and when Tom Pelissero was asked about Jawan Jennings he had this to say as well saying I don't anticipate Jennings is going anywhere I expect he's going to be on the team after the bye certainly there's been some trade interest in him that's typical when the players had the low production level that Jawan's had so far this season other teams begin to call however he did say that but I believe that he's going to be on the roster I believe that there's more in there he hasn't played his best they haven't necessarily gotten him the opportunities that they would like to but he's still a different body type than they have and they don't have anybody and that they don't have in anybody else sorry and i don't i totally agree with this with Tom Pelissero where i think minnesota wants to find ways to use Juwan Jennings, I know how in the past with Kevin O'Connell talking about certain players or gassing them up and saying they're going to get involved and we see them shipped out, hopefully that is not the case with Juwan Jennings because with a guy like this there is still a lot there that hasn't even even scratch the surface really, we haven't seen him really do much of anything in the passing game he's provided a lot of support in the run game and blocking, however with the weapon that he is at a wide receiver position, Minnesota just has to get him involved and I know it's going to be a process of doing that, I'm sure Kevin O'Connell has talked to him saying, listen, we haven't even gotten Kyler Murray on the same page with our top two wide receivers now, we got to wait to get that going first before we even figure about factoring you into the equation or things like that, however he is getting open on a lot of routes so Kyler just is not going to him on his reads, it typically is going to happen when you're the third wide receiver but hopefully Kyler is going to be able to see those reads a lot easier coming out of the bye, maybe they're having conversations about that during this bye week right now and hopefully they can hit the ground running in week seven to try and get that connection going and get him more involved as we saw with all the reports and the rumors coming out about there being tension between him and Kevin O'Connell and things like that I don't think it's entirely the case, it could have been just frustration from the game or stuff like that but we know that Juwan Jennings has a little bit of an edge to him so I'm not I wouldn't entirely be surprised if there is some tension but I am really hoping that he does stay in Minnesota don't deal him to another team that could use him very dangerously, if you do trade him, trade him to a terrible team but hopefully that is again like I keep saying I hope it's not the case I hope that he is able to stay on this team because I think as this season goes on he's gonna get a bit more involved and be able to be reliable in those postseason games or later on in the season because even with a guy like Jalen Nailor who didn't get a ton of involvement during his time in Minnesota when Minnesota needed him on key third down conversions or a fourth down conversion or for just a sneaky touchdown when no one was covering him he absolutely delivered in those moments and that is what Juwan Jennings needs to do in his role in Minnesota and a lot of things kind of led to a lot of rumors about Juwan Jennings being traded because of all the stuff with bringing in OBJ and then bringing in Juju Smith-Schuster for a workout Tom Pelissero also touched on the Juju side of things as well saying with Juju I don't think they're going down that road he's had a couple of workouts this week they're always churning i mean since Nolan Teasley got there look at the number of different running backs they brought in there in and out of the practice squad they've cycled them on and off and they've worked out veterans and it's also the similar way that he was operating in Seattle where they do it very similar over the past couple of years where you keep looking why wouldn't you turn over every single stone but in terms of major changes at the receiver position i'm not trading and i'm not expecting them to trade somebody away and that is going to give a little bit of a reprieve for fans because as much as we want to see them go and get an absolute stud at wide receiver and make a trade for some offensive lineman or running back or things like that if they are able to kind of keep this wide receiver core together and say listen we're not going to try and shake this up too much OBJ is basically going to be a Christmas ornament for this season the way that Ocho was in New England for that season that he was there so they can get Juwan Jennings involved like I keep saying and have Kyler Murray get some more relief even though he's doing pretty well he's starting to get more and more comfortable and I do have the confidence that once that comfort level gets fully or near closer to that max or at least at 70% I definitely think that we're going to see Juwan Jennings get the ball a lot more and we're going to see him possibly score some touchdowns I can see him maybe scoring three touchdowns for the rest of the year if he's able to get involved if he's traded obviously that's not going to happen but with Tom Pelissero saying this I do have some confidence that he won't be traded because as much as I love Ian Rappaport and Adam Schefter and all those other guys Tom Pelissero is one of those NFL insiders who's got his ear very close to the grindstone when it comes to the Minnesota Vikings he's a lot of Vikings fans favorite NFL insider and for good reason let us know down in the comments below if you think Juwan Jennings is going to be traded before the trade deadline or if you think that he's going to stay on this team and they are going to figure it out a way to get him involved and put up some numbers at some point let us know down in the comments below that's going to take us into the second topic of the day which is the o-line is fine for now which i've got to say a little bit cautiously because a lot of people have been asking for or demanding for the Vikings to trade for an offensive lineman get us a replacement for Donovan Jackson being out for the rest of the year get us a replacement for Will Fries because he's been absolutely terrible this year but there have been some standouts on this offensive line where i do have the confidence that Will Fries is going to get it together at some point because he had a really good year last year he hasn't been a total waste of money so again still early on in the season he's having to pick up a slack for a lot of other offensive linemen that are hurt but those next men up have been doing a great job at that but before we get into those guys Brian O'Neill obviously is a staple of this offensive line he's gone 57 straight snaps without allowing a single pressure which is the fifth longest streak among tackles in the NFL right now it is a very big jump to first place with Tristan Wirfs being up there but again Brian O'Neill he's solid he always has been and always will be but where it gets a little bit interesting as far as the new guys the next man up for the Vikings a lot of people want to talk about how the Vikings need to go out and get a center that's a big major focus right now as well as a another guard but i think with center we might be pretty okay with that because a lot of people will remember that we let Garrett Bradbury go in free agency a couple of years ago when we brought in Ryan Kelly he was a concrete case for the entire time of last year so he ends up retiring Garrett Bradbury is still not on the Minnesota Vikings of course he went to the Chicago Bears from the New England Patriots when you look at the stats comparing from Blake Brandel to Garrett Bradbury it's astounding to see that Blake Brandel is out playing Garrett Bradbury so that decision to let him go for a lot less money or for to save a lot more money was a great decision on the Vikings part so that was awesome to see and as well as when you look at some of the other stuff with Brian Vandermark being that next man up kind of stepping in there two QB pressures allowed on last Sunday against New Orleans Saints with only two penalties allowed zero sacks allowed and only in zero QB hits allowed so again this was a guy that had to step up and fill some big shoes going in there for Christian Harris off against the pass rush that contained Chase Young and Cam Jordan and he was able to do it very very well and I was absolutely impressed by him and another guy that is also getting a lot of attention is guard Joe Huber who was filling in for his first start of his career who was an undrafted free agent from University of Wisconsin and he was only allowing one QB pressure, one QB hit zero sacks and zero penalties absolutely love to see that and Joe Huber was a guy that I thought was a little bit of a gem when the Vikings signed him as an undrafted free agent last year and I thought that he had a lot of potential given the kind of overlooked size of him that was kind of brushed over coming out of the combine and going into the draft and all that stuff I was surprised that he was left off that board and Minnesota was just able to scoop him up and Kevin O'Connell really loves this guy as well because in his press conference that he had as the bye week kicked off he was talking about Joe Huber saying really happy with the way he played incredibly physical there was zero leaving anything in the tank for Joe he was flying off the ball he was throwing his hat things were moving quickly early on in the game but that's to be expected going on even further saying that I think between coming in last week and then ultimately getting a practice week under his belt that was the coolest thing about Joe on Sunday and the self-correct reps we saw at something Donovan Jackson's done at a really high level since he started playing something that maybe happened earlier on in the football game or getting an opportunity later on in the game or even on the drive that kind of absorbed that and maybe even changed technique fundamentals anticipate what was coming from New Orleans he demonstrated that which is really exciting for a young player and an undrafted one at that and he closed it out as well saying not surprised how well Joe has played obviously we're going to need him we're going to need him to continue to ascend and I have nothing but confidence in the guys coaching him and the guys around him on that offensive line and Joe himself. He's going to do that. Really fortunate to have Joe Huber here and I definitely agree with KOC here where they need all the support they can get on the offensive line. That's where a lot of people are saying, go out and make a trade, damn it. But I think right now, with the way this offensive line is playing, we have injuries. Yes, Christian Darrisaw is going to be back after the bye. Brian O'Neal has a little bit more time to get healed up as well. Then I know Donovan Jackson isn't going to be there this season. But with the way that Joe Huber has stepped up, Ryan Vandenberg has stepped up, that was kind of an underrated free agent sign that Minnesota made this past offseason that I think kind of flew under everyone's radar. We didn't know how much he was going to be involved because of all the offensive line guys that we currently had as starters. But now that we're seeing him get an opportunity to start, he is doing pretty good. I know it's only been one game, but I'm very excited to see what more happens with this Vikings offensive line as these guys kind of step up and kind of improve more as the season goes on. obviously you're hoping that these guys aren't having to ask to do too much because again you want your starters in there for a reason the next man up guy is the next man up guy for a reason but with what these next man up guys are doing i'm pretty happy with what i've seen so far it gives me a little bit of confidence for now that minnesota doesn't necessarily have to panic and go out and get an offensive lineman that they're gonna have to overpay for a one-year rental when right now with the guys they got doing pretty good and right now as far as where minnesota can improve it's in possibly the running back position we'll see how jordan mason does when he gets back from his injury and possibly as well as the edge rusher or interior d line i know that we're pretty much set there maybe a blocking tight end i think would be the other biggest thing like we covered in our last video so again running back blocking tight end probably the things to watch out for wide receiver not so much like donovan jennings is going to be there and as well as offensive line i think we're pretty good on that front let us know down in the comments below if Do you guys agree? Disagree? I know a lot of people are probably going to disagree and say, damn it, go get an offensive lineman right now. Shut up about talking about any other position unless it's an offensive lineman. But let us know what you guys think down in the comments below that's going to do it for this episode of Vikings Digest. Thanks again for liking, subscribing, hitting that bell icon so you don't miss the episodes when they drop. But for now, I've been your host, Griffin. Take care.